(1) Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of systems and methods for performing digital signal processing operations in connection with signals and more particularly to systems and methods for characterizing signals to determine their stochastic properties, that is, to determine whether they are random. If the signals are random, they may be determined to constitute noise, in which case additional signal processing efforts which might be undertaken to process the signals to extract information therefrom can be avoided.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In a number of applications, it is desirable to be able to determine the likelihood that a signal is random. For example, an acoustic signal, received in an ocean environment, may constitute noise alone, or it may include some useful "information" along with a background noise. If the signal constitutes noise alone, its amplitude will be random, but if it includes information it will not be random and further processing may be useful to identify the information. In some signal processing systems, it is assumed that the signal includes information, and the signal is processed to try to extract the intelligence. It may be the case that the noise level of a received signal is so great that the information cannot be extracted, but if the signal is pure noise, no information will be extracted and the processing effort will be wasted in any event. It is accordingly desirable to be able to determine the likelihood that a signal constitutes only noise, or if it also includes information so that a determination can be made as to whether processing of the signal to extract the information would be useful.